Pearl Abyss' arena combat game, Shadow Arena, will be shuttering later this summer according to the developer. The Black Desert-inspired combat game struggled to really gain a footing, with the Pearl Abyss team calling the title "inadequate."
The post on the Steam page (via MMOFallout) states that the battle royale title was in a state that was simply "inadequate" to offer the experience the team was hoping for. As a result, Pearl Abyss is shutting down the title effective on August 10th, giving those who did enjoy the Black Desert combat spin-off one last real hurrah before termination.
"Despite our efforts to introduce various elements to the game, we thought that Shadow Arena in its current state was inadequate in offering a unique experience. With deep consideration, we regret to inform you that the service of Shadow Arena will be terminated. We would like sincerely thank all the players who have been in support of Shadow Arena as we deliver this news."
Because the title is ending service while still in early access, premium currency purchases made within the last year will be eligible for a refund. Official client users will need to go through Pearl Abyss, while Steam users will need to go the extra step of logging into their Steam account through the customer support service. Purchases eligible for a refund are ones made between July 8th 2021 through August 10th 2022.
In the meantime, for those who want to play Shadow Arena before it shuts down, Battle Pass rewards will be accelerated while all shop items will be available for a single silver. GCoin purchases are now disabled.
In our impressions, we did like the combat, which isn't surprising since it's basically Black Desert Online's action combat system. However, low player counts and the aggressive monetization at the time soured the experience for us, and it never quite picked up Steam since launching in 2020.
